Mizukami Riki
Vegetable cone with fried fishby Heinz Beck
Signature Dishes Spaghettino al "pomodoro d'inverno" è il Piatto del 2023 di Paolo Gori
Leonor Espinosa and Fatmata Binta, both special guest speakers in the Auditorium at Identità Milano 2023: the Colombian chef will give a talk with her daughter Laura Hernandez on Sunday 29th January at 3.40 p.m.; the Sierra Leonean chef on Saturday 28th at 4.20 p.m.
In the 18th edition of Identità Milano (28/30 January 2023) world cuisines and the cooks and chefs representing traditions on the rise in global consideration will be back in the limelight. There are many similarities between Colombian Leonor Espinosa and Sierra Leonean Fatmata Binta: both support the work of barely-visible if not completely ignored communities (Colombian indigenous communities the former, nomadic Fulani communities in West Africa the latter); both work in politically unstable and male-centric countries; both carry out archaeologically relevant work on the roots of their respective traditions, striving hard to bring them up to date. And both have won the prestigious Basque Culinary World Prize (in 2017 the former, in 2022 the latter). Let's read their biographies and stories
LEONOR ESPINOSA Leo Restaurant, Bogotá, Colombia Sala Auditorium, Sunday 19th January, 3.40 pm Born in Cartago, in the Cauca Valley, in 1963, Leonor Espinosa's vocation came rather late in life: before turning her hand to cooking, she studied sculpture at the School of Fine Arts in Cartagena de Indias - the pearl of Colombia's Caribbean coastline, a country that overlooks the Atlantic Ocean as well as the Pacific, south of the Panama Strait - and economics at the Universidad Tecnológica de Bolívar. A curious and multifaceted profile, developed before she became interested in catering, in 1998, at the age of 25. A quarter of a century later, Leo restaurant in Bogotá is on the list of the world's most acclaimed restaurants: 48th in the global 50 Best and 13th in the continental Latin America list. For technical skills, certainly – Espinosa was also voted Best Female Chef 2022 by the same institution – but above all for her willingness to showcasing like no one else the cyclobiome of Colombia. This country boasts one of the densest animal and plant biodiversities in the world, a heritage of which we still know very little because, in fact, the equatorial country only emerged from a dark multi-decade civil war in 2016. Leo is the restaurant that best expresses mestizaje, the melting pot of a country that overlaps Amazonian, Andean, Caribbean, Pacific, Arab, African, Spanish and indigenous influences. Above all, Leo and her daughter Laura, in charge of the newly-opened La Sala de Laura, on the floor above the more celebrated restaurant, turn the spotlight on all those actors who belong to small minorities, long relegated to silence. Invisible African and indigenous communities, plagued by problems of social violence and deprived of their basic resources. Four hundred and fifty thousand people belonging to 81 ethnic groups, speaking 64 different languages. An anthropological and cultural heritage kept under wraps until just three decades ago. “Cooking is an important social vessel,” Leonor explains whenever she can, “because it can help solve a country's problems. By supporting them and the plant and animal species they care for, we can protect precious communities, promote the country's food security, and write our complex culinary identity”. A mission that earned her the prestigious Basque Culinary World Prize in 2017. She also pursues these themes every single day as president of Funleo a non-profit organisation dedicated to promoting the social welfare of ethnic and rural communities. Espinosa is also the author of two important books: 'Leo el Sabor' and 'Lo que cuenta el caldero'. Insights: The cuisine of restaurant Leo in Bogotá Cooking as redemption for invisible communities: the example of Leonor and Laura in Bogotá
Leonor Espinosa and daughter Laura Hernandez, at the helm of restaurants Leo, La Sala de Laura and Mi Casa en tu Casa in Bogotá
Fatmata Binta
Translated into English by Slawka G. Scarso
born in Milan, 1973, freelance journalist, coordinator of Identità Golose World restaurant guidebook since 2007, he is a contributor for several magazines and teaches History of gastronomy and Culinary global trends into universities and institutes. twitter @gabrielezanatt instagram @gabrielezanatt
Leonor Espinosa at Identià Milano 2023
Chef Alvaro Clavijo and Ivan Cordoba with his wife Maria. Right, Envuelto with curd and plantain, one of the dishes capable of telling the story of Colombian ingredients and traditions. Photos: Annalisa Cavaleri
Jaime David Rodriguez Camacho, chef and patron at restaurant Celele, the main signature cuisine restaurant in Cartagena de Indias, Caribbean Islands, Colombia